Most famous for her book My Sister’s Keeper, Jodi Picoult has always impressed me with her willingness to write about incredibly sensitive and controversial topics. Nowadays, it seems like literally every topic is controversial, but it didn’t used to be that way. Picoult’s writing always left me contemplating what I would do if I ever found myself in any particular character’s position. Some things are black in white, but I have always appreciated writers that could challenge readers to see both sides; to lean into the grey areas of life.
In Second Glance, the sale of an abandoned property causes controversy amongst the developers and a group of Abenaki Indians who claim the land is an Indian burial ground. Strange things start to happen in the town of Comtosook, Vermont that leads people to think that the land in question is being haunted.
The story follows several characters, each with their own tragic pasts, whose stories are gradually revealed throughout the book and eventually intertwine. Heart wrenching from start to finish, this book teaches an important lesson in the value of life. All life. God put each of us on this earth for a reason and it is not for us or anyone else to question that.